As the school year progresses into what feels like longer, darker, and colder times, many people are finding themselves facing challenges. Whether it’s family struggles, friend drama, or personal issues, many people can feel anxious this time of year, including me.
With all of these thoughts, it’s hard for your mind to wind down. Some thoughts feel as if they are running at a hundred miles per hour. Feelings can become overwhelming. It’s essential to take time to let your mind unwind and do something for yourself, so that your emotions don’t pile up over time. It’s a good thing to take a brain break once in a while.
Coloring
Coloring is a way to relax the mind when everything is overwhelming and stressful. There’s no talent involved; you can just find a fun coloring page online and print it out, or buy a coloring book at a store. Grab something to color with, and sit in a quiet place with minimal distractions. Coloring allows you to focus on the task at hand without dwelling too much on your worries. Something about the satisfying ways you fill in a certain area has a way of calming the mind. Coloring helps me the most when I am feeling lonely and stressed out. It allows me to do something for an extended period of time, cancelling out negative thoughts.
Nature walks
Going on nature walks is a great way to relax when you are feeling overwhelmed and need a break from the reality of the world around you and all your struggles. When going on these walks, it’s nice to look at every small detail of each part of nature and notice the creatures that are hidden out of sight. Doing all of this can help you become at peace with life, and help your mind focus on things that are presented in front of you, so you can focus on the life that’s around and not worry about what the future holds. This is helpful for me because I find nature very calming and allows me to process thoughts that aren’t realistic, as I am looking and remembering what the earth is made up of.
Five senses
Using your five senses, especially when you’re at the peak of your worries, is a good way to calm your mind quickly without having to completely stop what you’re doing.
It’s really easy; all you need to do is take a moment right where you are and identify your five senses. What do you hear around you? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you see in front of you? What do you feel? Asking yourself these simple questions helps stop you from spiraling into negative thoughts by understanding what’s around you instead of focusing on harmful ideas. Remembering to do this every time you become super stressed or nervous is hard, but creating it as a habit for every time stuff gets overwhelming is really helpful.
Listening to music
Listening to music is one of the most widely known ways to calm your mind. You can listen to songs anywhere and at any time. You can listen through the speaker of your phone or grab headphones. Listening to music is a helpful way to hear your emotions being spoken about. Oftentimes, when people listen to music while they are going through a hard time, the music and its tone go with their emotions. Music is a perfect way for your brain to process the emotions and acknowledge them, and move on. Music can also always be played during these other calming activities, like coloring and going on nature walks. It adds an extra way to relax and allows your mind to calm down.
There are so many different ways to calm the mind, but when things get stressful, it’s hard to remember all the things you can do to help with the stress and anxiety, so creating a simple list of things that you try to do regularly is very beneficial. These are my favorite ways to relax my mind during difficult times when my mind is racing with negative thoughts.
